Dutch Court Upholds Cannabis Café Ban on Foreigners

The ban on foreigners hasn&#039;t affected this Amsterdam cannabis cafe--yet. (photo: Wikimedia.org)A Dutch judge in The Hague Friday upheld a law banning foreigners from entering the country's famous marijuana coffee houses. That means that as of next week, foreigners will be unable to purchase marijuana at coffee houses in three southern border provinces.

The ban on foreigners is expected to go into effect nationwide by next year, but whether that will actually happen is unclear, given strong opposition from Amsterdam and other cities, and given that the conservative coalition government that crafted the policy has fallen, and the country will have elections to select a new government this fall.

The government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte has moved on several fronts to rein in the Netherlands' decades-long tradition of tolerance for marijuana and marijuana sales. It has labeled hashish and stronger strains of marijuana as "hard drugs" and forbidden their sale in the coffee houses. And it has moved not only to ban foreigners from the coffee houses, but also to make them "members only" clubs with a membership limited to 2,000 per club. Entry would be allowed only to persons holding a "weed pass," or membership card.

Coffee shop owners in the southern provinces where the ban is set to take affect May 1filed suit to block it, arguing that the ban discriminates against other members of the European Union. But the court in The Hague upheld the law.

Lawyers for the coffee shop owners said they would immediately appeal. They said they would take the case to the European Court for Human Rights and argue that the Dutch government should not be able to discriminate against people based on where they live.

"It's going to cost me 90% of my turnover," said coffee shop owner Michael Veling, who is also a spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association. "That is a very good reason for anyone to oppose any plan. Second, it puts our customers in a very difficult spot, because why do you have to register to buy a substance that is still illegal?" he told the BBC.

The battle over Holland's iconic cannabis cafes is by no means over. In addition to the continuing fights in the courts, both national and European, the issue will undoubtedly be addressed in the coming election campaign.